10 Movie Characters Everyone Thought Were Secret Villains
2. Danny Witwer - Minority Report
Much like M, it was easy to believe that Minority Report's Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) was the Big Bad because stern figures of authority just have an inherently untrustworthy whiff about them, right?
Witwer is a doggedly determined Department of Justice agent who spends the movie chasing down Precrime chief John Anderton (Tom Cruise), amid the belief that he's about to commit a murder.
As a foil to our hero, Witwer is very clearly teed up to be Minority Report's villain, and for the vast majority of the film, that seems to be the direction things are headed.
But late in the day, we learn that the real villain is Precrime director Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow), who had gone to murderous lengths to preserve the "integrity" of Precrime, including framing Anderton for murder.
When Witwer catches wind of what's going on, Burgess kills him - a genuinely shocking moment and quite brilliant reveal of the film's true antagonist.